Breastfeeding doesn’t suit every woman
Alex Dyke is the local radio presenter who has been suspended by the BBC for channelling Alan Partridge while making inappropriate comments about breastfeeding. Mr Dyke deserves a thorough ticking off for saying that it was forced upon us by “Earth mothers… the ones with the moustaches”, but in one respect he is right. Breastfeeding, for many women, is unnatural. Not for the dubious sexual reasons Dyke gives, but because it can be bloody hard, and painful. As for the “bonding” element – well, my daughter was the first person to ever turn away from my breasts screaming, and I didn’t find it a particularly great way of connecting.
The truth is, for many of us breastfeeding is not the most natural thing in the world, but dare to say this out loud and you are shouted down by lactating women who see your troubles as some sort of personal affront (when will the breastfeeding lobby get that it isn’t all about them?).
When I mentioned this on Twitter, I was told that formula was dangerous and on a par with cigarettes. This isn’t just ridiculous, it is extremely unhelpful. (Though not as unhelpful as the health visitor who told a friend to carry on trying, despite the fact she had had a double mastectomy, or the midwife who suggested to one woman that she put glitter on her nipples in an attempt to entice the baby. Yes, really.)
The directive to breastfeed often comes at the expense of all reason. The NHS would rather you spent the first months of motherhood weeping over bad latch, tongue tie and cracked nipples than getting on with the job of parenting. Figures are bandied about that say only 1 per cent of women don’t produce enough milk, but nobody says where these figures come from, and in any case milk production is not the only reason for failing to breastfeed. (Also, why are the breasts the only part of the body we don’t expect to let us down?)
We need to have a proper conversation about why breastfeeding doesn’t always work, instead of shouting down anybody who dares question it. When calling for the head of Alex Dyke, it would be wise to remember that each and every one of us should respect how a woman chooses to feed her baby.